Believer
by Rona Urara
Summary: After a traumatic experience, Raphael writes the song "Believer" by Imagine Dragons. The song tells the story of what happened and helps Raph move forward after pouring everything he'd been dealing with into the song. In this story, it is going off the idea that Raphael has written stuff like this before. While his brothers have no or minimal knowledge about it. Enjoy. :D


Raphael was pushed down to his knees. His hands were tied behind his back and he had no idea where he was. The only thing he did know was that he was taken away from the people he cared about a long time ago, by a psycho. The turtle gasped as a stinging slap rang across his face.

 _ **First things first**_

 _ **I'ma say all the words in my head.**_

 _ **I'm fired up and tired of the way things been, oh-ooh**_

 _ **The way things been, oh-ooh**_

"You're a sick, twisted freak! You're not going to get away with this! As soon as I get out of this I'm going to kill all of you!" Raphael yelled, letting all of his anger out. The hot-headed turtle glared murder at the man, responsible for all of this, standing in front of him. The man laughed and the dude's henchmen tugged sharply on the chain around Raph's neck. He grimacing at the chain digging into his neck but didn't let up on his death glare on the man in a suit.

 _ **Second things second**_

 _ **Don't tell me what you think that I can be**_

 _ **I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh**_

 _ **The master of my sea, oh-ooh**_

"You won't be doing anything of the sort, turtle. In fact, you won't be doing any like that ever again. You won't be a fighter, or a protector, or even a brother. You will only be what I say you can." The man stated with a malicious grin, cupping turtle's chin in his hands. Raph growled dangerously. He was so going to kill this freak when he got the chance.

 _ **I was broken at a young age**_

 _ **Taken my soul to the masses**_

 _ **Wright down my poems for the few**_

 _ **That looked at me took to me, shook to me, feeling me**_

 _ **Singing from the heartache from the pain**_

 _ **Take up my message from the veins**_

 _ **speaking my lesson from the brain**_

 _ **seeing the beauty through the...**_

"And I say you are nothing more than a pet for my collection." The man sneered, bigging his fingered into Raphael's skin. Raph's head snapped to the side as he was slapped again. "Take him back to his cell. And see to it that my pet learns a few more lessons." The two henchmen jerked on the chain as soon as their boss finished talking. Raph gaged, resisting to be pulled away by these creeps.

"Your all dead! Every last one of you! Ya hear me?! You sick freaks are going to regret this!" Raphael shouted as he was being dragged away. The chain was yanked on hard, sending Raph to the ground. The turtle grunted in pain as he hit the floor.

Then be for he knew it, Raphael was being dragged past the one window he knew this place had. He watched longingly at a small white butterfly thing fly by the glass. The turtle longed to be free and be with his family again. But then the window was gone and Raphael was getting pulled closer to his cell.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You broke me down, you build me up, believer, believer**_

Raph continued to struggle against the two men. He wasn't going to let these people treat him like this! He wasn't a collectible. He wasn't some pet or animal! He was so much more than that! though deep down Raph knew the truth. He'd always known. He was animal. He was even sold at a pet store before he and his family were mutated.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **I let the bullets fly, oh I let them rain**_

 _ **My luck, my love, my God, they come from...**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

Raph grunted in pain as he was kicked yet again. He saged in his restraints. His arms were still tied behind his back and the chain was attached to the wall, keeping him in an uncomfortable sitting position. The henchmen standing over him wore a deep scale.

"What's wrong with you? It's like you actually enjoy getting hurt! Your an animal! Nothing more than a pathetic pet! and you will do whatever you're told!" the man snarled. Raphael glared at the man as he panted heavily. He knew he was an animal but he wasn't going to let his guy or anyone else walk all over him.

"Like shell I am."

 _ **Third things third**_

 _ **Send a prayer to the one up above**_

 _ **All the hate that you've heard has turned spirit into a dove, oh-ooh**_

 _ **Your spirit up above, oh-ooh**_

Raph panted, leaning his head against the wall. The man that was supposedly teaching him a 'lesson' had left a little bit ago. But Raph knew that the dude wasn't done with him yet. The guy was probably just going to get something so he could hurt Raphael more.

Raph didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He was beaten, battered, and bruised, in that order. He could hardly even keep up his angry attitude anymore. He just wanted to go home.

 _ **I was choking in the crowd**_

 _ **Living my brain up in the cloud**_

 _ **Falling like ashes to the ground**_

 _ **Hoping my feelings, they would drown**_

 _ **But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing**_

 _ **Inhibited, limited**_

 _ **Till it broke up and it rained down**_

 _ **It rained down like...**_

Raphael cried out in pain. And then again and again. His so-called teacher had come back with an electrical rod. And every time Raphael did something, anything the man didn't like, he got electrocuted.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" The man growled, eyes hard on Raph. The turtle took shaky breaths as he got a little relief from the shocks. "Well? Do you have anything you want to say?" Raph clamped his eyes shut. He couldn't say anything with his normal sarcasm. Nothing with anger, fear, and especially no threats! Something inside snapped and tears started to form in Raphael's eyes.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You broke me down, you build me up, believer, believer**_

"Like... you want me... to say... anything..." Raph muttered in between breaths. Glaring lightly at the man. "You and your boss... just want... a mindless... animal to tortu-" The turtle's statement was cut short when electricity flooded his body again. Raph screamed in agony, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"You were saying?" the man wondered, his voice a sharp warning as pulled the rod away from Raph's side. Raphael whimpered at his chest heaved.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **I let the bullets fly, oh I let them rain**_

 _ **My luck, my love, my God, they come from...**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

"You and your boss... just want an animal for your collection." Raph corrected when he was able to get the words out.

"Better. See you're finally learning." The man stated a malicious smile on his face. Raph whimpered again, unable to stop his tears. This was so stupid and messed up! Yes, he was an animal, he was a pet, but he shouldn't have to go through this!

 _ **Last things last**_

 _ **By the grace of the fire and the flames**_

 _ **You're the fact the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh**_

 _ **The blood in my veins, oh-ooh**_

 _ **But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing**_

 _ **Inhibited, limited**_

 _ **Till it broke up and it rained down**_

 _ **It rained down like...**_

Raphael kept his eyes firmly closed. His shoulders shaking as the listened to his teacher, the man that had been torturing him for who knows how long, talking to the boss. Raph heard the boss guy chuckle darkly when his henchmen mentioned the electrical rod. Raphael forced his eyes to be shut tighter, making himself think about home. About his family. They were fighters, they were protectors of New York and most importantly, they were Raphael's brothers. He was everything they were despite what these freaks said. Though Raph never really was one of them... He never fit in, he was the outcast in the family. Even Mikey had a far better place in the family then he did.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You broke me down, you build me up, believer, believer**_

The boss, the one that stole Raphael away from his home, ordered his torture, and trying to force Raph into the man's own model, grabbed Raphael's face. Forcefully making Raph look up at him. Raph opened his eyes and stared at the man with an intense blank stare. Though on the inside he a turmoil of emotions.

"And who am I pet." He psycho wondered. In that instance, Raph was willing to shove everything he just went through to the side and say what this man really was. Though the turtle bit back every one of the words he thought of, forcing himself to answer right.

"You are my master." Raph stated with a hollow voice, staring at the sinister smile of satisfaction on the man's face. All the while Raph's shoulders still shock from all the electrical shocks he received.

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **I let the bullets fly, oh I let them rain**_

 _ **My luck, my love, my God, they come from...**_

 _ **PAIN!**_

 _ **You made me a, you made me a believer, believer**_

Raphael put his pencil down after he wrote the last word to his song. Raph sighed with relief as he blinked tears out of his eyes and rubbed his sore neck. It was finally over. He could put that whole experience behind him now. Raphael looked down at the song he just finished. Everything that happened... condensed and hidden in this one song. Raph moved his hand from his neck to his shoulder. Where a few bullet wounds were still healing.

The turtle closed the small journal and continued on his journey through the forest. He wasn't going home. Not yet anyway. He just couldn't. He wouldn't see New York again until he was healed. So that his brothers wouldn't wonder what happened. As far as any of them should be concerned, Raphael Homoto left the team for time to reflect. And that was all they would ever know about Raph's whole ordeal. They didn't need to know that they almost lost their brother to a psychopath.

 _ **The End**_


End file.
